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Hollinger Corp. 
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TP 681 
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Copy 1 



Concrete Feeding Floors 

Barnyard Pavements and 

Concrete Walks 







Concrete Feeding Floors, Barnyard 
Pavements and Concrete Walks 

OF all the farm appointments which can be secured through the me- 
dium of concrete, none is easier to build nor more certain to give 
good returns on the money and labor expended than a concrete 
feeding floor. Those who have had much experience in stock feeding, both 
in the open pasture lot and on a smooth concrete floor where no grain can 
be lost, have proved conclusively that such a floor can be made to pay 
for itself in not more than two years and often within a year. In many 
instances where careful records have been kept, cattle feeders who special- 
ize on fattening stock exclusively for market have obtained even quicker 
return of the investment involved. 




This is the usual and far too common knee-deep feeding lot. Not only is it insanitary, but it 
increases the labor of feeding, the waste offeed, and the loss of valuable fertilizer. 

Advantages of concrete floors are numerous. There is not only 
greater gain in weight of cattle and hogs fed on a floor where grain can- 
not be lost and where accumulation of filth can easily be prevented, but 
there is the sanitation resulting from the concrete surface, which cannot 
absorb filth and can be cleaned readily by scrubbing with water or apply- 
ing some germicidal solution. If necessary, the floor can be sprayed 



% CONCRETE FEEDING FLOORS 

with gasoline and the fuel set on fire, thus making sanitation doubly 
certain. If feeding is done on a pavement, there is no wading through 
mud, neither for the farmer nor the animals being fed. 

But these are not the only advantages. Manure that can be saved 
by feeding on a paved surface represents no small item, as has been proved 
by many experiments. Tests made at the Ohio Experiment Station to 
determine the relative value of manure removed from the concrete floor 
as compared with that gathered from the unpaved feed lot, proved not 
only that there was more manure saved from the concrete floor but a 
greater percentage of the phosphorus, potash and nitrogen contained in 
the feed consumed was recovered in the manure. This, because when 
properly planned the concrete feeding floor is built so that its surface 
drains into a concrete gutter — a part of the floor — which in turn is con- 
nected to a tile line leading to a sump or manure pit cistern where all 
the liquid manure is saved. This means more cash for the business farmer 
who is endeavoring to conserve and build up soil fertility by preventing 
waste of every fertilizing element. 




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Form construction for concrete feeding floors and barnyard pavements is of the simplest type. 
Two by fours securely staked in place are all that is needed. This sketch shows a portion ot 
what will be one strip of such a floor, and illustrates how the curb, apron and gutter should be 
constructed. 

Feeding stock on concrete floors reduces the labor of feeding consider- 
ably. Every one knows that at some seasons, any unpaved feed lot will 
become a mudhole. Any grain or fodder thrown out for cattle either 
becomes tramped into the mud, or so covered with dirt and filth that 
the animals will not eat it, so a large portion is wasted. Only corn that 
gets inside of a hog will make pork. 

To meet all desirable requirements, a feeding floor must have a sur- 
face that will be smooth, easily kept clean and will not absorb filth or 
wastes that may be dropped upon it — a surface that can easily be dis- 
infected, and of material that is permanent. All these possibilities are 
characteristic of concrete. If concrete floors are properly constructed, 
they are not only moderate in first cost but practically everlasting. Rats 
and mice find convenient breeding places beneath wood floors and thrive 
on grain that the stock waste. The wood floor cannot be kept sanitary; 



BARNYARD PAVEMENTS AND CONCRETE WALKS 3 

and from the very fact that it usually is built in contact with the soil, 
soon requires replacement as a result of rapid decay. 

What has been said so far of concrete feeding floors applies equally 
to barnyard pavements, since the paved barnyard is usually only a larger 
paved area than the concrete feeding floor, and the same advantages and 
profits result from the concrete-paved barnyard as are identified with 
the concrete feeding floor. 

Concrete feeding floors and barnyard pavements are not difficult 
to build. The home worker who has had a moderate amount of experience 
in concrete work can build them easily; and the man who has never had 
any such experience can easily acquire the necessary skill if he is careful 
to follow directions. 

Concrete feeding floors may be compared to a series of concrete 
sidewalks laid side by side ; that is, if you were to take the ordinary well- 
built concrete sidewalk and move the slabs around so that they lay in 
rows, four, five or six slabs long and two, three or more wide, you would 
have the concrete feeding floor or concrete barnyard pavement. 

Although the feeding floor may be rectangular or any other shape, 
most farmers prefer a square floor. Fifty hogs require a paved area of 
at least 24 by 35 feet. This allows 18 square feet per hog, which is about 
right to prevent the animals from disturbing one another while feeding. 
As a rule, it is not economical nor desirable to build a floor having an 
area less than 200 square feet. 

There are two types of construction that may be employed for con- 
crete feeding floors and barnyard pavements — one, and two-course. 
In one-course construction a relatively rich concrete, such asa 1:2:3 or 
1:2:4 mixture, is used throughout and placed at one operation to the 
required thickness. In two-course construction a leaner concrete, such 
as a 1:23^:5 mixture, is used for a 4-inch base, with a 1-inch top or 
wearing course of richer (1:2) proportion. The greater ease with which 
one-course floors can be constructed makes this type preferable for 
paving feed lots and barnyards. 

Concrete feeding floors for hogs are often made 4 inches thick. This 
is sufficient where there is no danger from freezing and heaving, but 5 
inches thick is better. If the floor is separate from the barnyard pave- 
ment, it should have a curb and apron on all sides, extending a 
foot or more below the surface of the ground and two or three inches 
above the pavement. This will prevent hogs from rooting underneath, 
and from shoving grain off the floor. Where the ground is firm and well 
drained, concrete may be laid directly upon the soil without any special 
foundation or subbase after the natural soil has been properly leveled 
and uniformly compacted. All vegetation should be removed from the 
site and any soft spots be filled with gravel or clean cinders free from 
ashes, wet down and well compacted. A location should be chosen for 
the floor that is slightly higher than the immediate surroundings so that 
drainage will be good from beneath the pavement. But if the site is on 
soft soil or where water is likely to be retained for a time during certain 
seasons, an 8-inch subbase of well tamped or rolled cinders or gravel is 
advisable, and drain tile should be so laid as to drain water from the 



CONCRETE FEEDING FLOORS 



subbase. If this is not done water is likely to be retained beneath the 
pavement, and freezing and the subsequent expansion may cause the 
slabs to heave. Even though none of the slabs might be broken, the 
floor would probatly have an uneven surface due to unequal settlement 
after the heaving has subsided. 

The feeding floor should have a slope of J^ inch to the foot toward a 
gutter at one side. This gutter will receive the liquid wastes dropped 
on the floor as well as water used for washing it, and this gutter in turn 
should have a slight slope and be connected to a tight concrete tile drain 
leading to a cistern or sump where the liquids may be collected and pre- 
served for the fertilizing value they possess. 




On the concrete feeding floor every grain of feed gets where it belongs — inside the animals for 
which it is intended. This floor would have been better if a curb had been built around it so 
that grain could not be pushed off the floor while the hogs are feeding and to prevent them from 
rooting underneath. 

Slabs of a concrete feeding floor may well be limited to not greater 
than 6 feet square. Forms should be of 2-inch lumber 4 or 5 inches wide, 
depending on the thickness of the pavement. The top of forms should 
be set to such a grade that a slope of J4 inch to the foot will be secured 
for proper drainage of the pavement surface. Not all of the area which 
it is intended to pave should be laid out with forms at one time; instead 
forms for one row of slabs only need be provided for, just as though a 
sidewalk were to be constructed. Then after having blocked off this 
strip into 6-foot squares with partition strips, concrete should be placed 
for alternate slabs and after these have hardened sufficiently to be self- 
sustaining, the cross pieces can be removed and the intermediate slabs 
concreted, this operation being repeated alongside of the first and subse- 
quent strips (which will then serve as a form for one side) as many 
times as necessary to secure the desired width of floor. 

Concrete for feeding floors and barnyard pavements where the work 
is one-course construction, should be a 1:2:3 mixture although if care is 



BARNYARD PAVEMENTS AND CONCRETE WALKS 5 

used to select well graded sand and pebbles, a 1:2:4 mixture will accomplish 
the purpose; but for the greatest degree of sanitation, the surface must be 
non-absorbent and this means a watertight concrete which the home 
worker will be more certain to secure by using a 1 : 2 : 3 than a 1 : 2 : 4 mixture. 
Sand should range from fine to }/^ inch with the coarser particles pre- 
dominating, while pebbles should range from 34 to 1 or Vy± inches. 
Both sand and pebbles should be clean and free from clay or other foreign 
matter. (A 1:2:3 mixture means 1 sack of Portland cement, to 2 cubic- 
feet of sand and 3 cubic feet of pebbles or broken stone.) 

Many persons have the impression that when definite proportions 
of sand and pebbles are specified the same results can be secured by 
substituting for them an equal bulk of bank-run material, that is, sand 
and pebbles as found combined in the ordinary gravel pit. This is in- 
correct since the volume of air spaces (voids) in bank-run material requires 
more cement for filling than would be used with a properly proportioned 
mixture of cement, sand and pebbles. Bank-run gravel should never be 
used for concrete work until screened, so that the fine and coarse materials 
(sand and pebbles) can be correctly reproportioned. 

In mixing the correctly proportioned materials for one-course 
cod struct* on, enough water should be added to produce a concrete of 
quaky or jelly-like consistency, so that it can be quickly spread about in 
the forms and easily leveled with a strikeboard resting upon the top 
edge of forms. This should be passed across the surface with a saw-like 
motion, thus leveling the concrete and at the same time assisting to 
compact it. 

When mixing concrete it is very important that just the right amount 
of water be used and that mixing is sufficiently thorough to make certain 
that every particle of cement is wet and the materials thoroughly and 
intimately combined. Concrete hardens best when kept moist. Unless 
a sufficient amount of water is used when making concrete mixtures, there 
will not be enough moisture present to permit the cement to undergo 
the chemical changes necessary to fully develop its binding qualities. 
On the other hand, one must be careful not to use too much water as 
this will cause the sand-cement mortar to separate from the pebbles or 
broken stone. If mixed to the right consistency, the surface can usually 
be given its final finish within not to exceed half an hour after placing. 
Finishing should be done with a wood float, not with a steel trowel. 
The former gives an even, yet slightly gritty surface that forms a 
sure foothold for the animals, while the steel trowel not only tends 
to produce a slippery surface but there is a tendency when finishing 
with a steel trowel to overtrowel, thus bringing an excess of cement 
and fine sand to the surface which considerably impairs the wearing 
quality of the floor. 

After the concrete has been finished with the wood float and the 
surface has become sufficiently firm to resist pressure of one's thumb, 
there should be applied a protective covering of moist sand or earth so 
as to prevent the concrete from drying out too rapidly. Regardless of 
how well the materials may have been proportioned, mixed and placed, 
the final results will not be satisfactory unless this precaution of protect- 



CONCRETE FEEDING FLOORS 



ing the floor properly while hardening is observed. Hot sun and dry 
winds will rob the concrete of moisture and thus prevent proper harden- 
ing, so the protective covering must be applied just as soon as possible 
to do so without marring the surface and, furthermore, should be kept 
wet by frequent sprinkling for a week or ten days. After this the con- 
crete floor may be put to its intended use although wagons should not 
be driven over it until the concrete is at least a month old. 







Concrete pavement in the barnyard converts it into a sanitary exercis- 
ing lot for the stock. Nature largely attends to cleaning the surface with 
rain and sunshine. 

This brings up the point of heavy teaming over paved barnyards. 
If there is to be much heavy hauling across a barnyard pavement, it 
would be well to increase the thickness to at least 6 inches. 

Many farmers are paving their entire barnyard with concrete, thus 
making of the area that once was a knee-deep mudhole, a sanitary feeding 
and exercising lot for the stock. 



CONCRETE WALKS 

Because of the resemblance between concrete feeding floors and 
barnyard pavements and concrete walks, no detailed description of con- 
structing a concrete walk is necessary. As in the construction of a con- 
crete feeding floor, consideration must be given to the character of the 
soil upon which the walk is to be laid and sometimes a subbase or special 
foundation is necessary. So far as possible, a concrete walk should be 
built where drainage will be good, but if this cannot be done, a subbase 
must be built by compacting clean gravel or cinders, then side drains 
should be laid to lead water away from this subbase. 

Where there is not much heaving of soil because of the fact that it 
is loose and well drained, slabs for farm walks need not be thicker than 



BARNYARD PAVEMENTS AND CONCRETE WALKS ? 

4 inches, but 5 inches is better. In no case should individual slabs 
exceed 6 feet in any one dimension. 

Forms in which to place the concrete must be provided, the course 
of the walk being first marked with strings stretched from stakes. Then 
the sod is removed, loose soil dug out and the foundation compacted. 
Usually 2 by 4's well staked in position will serve as forms. One-inch 
lumber is sometimes used but, unless well staked, the placing of concrete 
will often make such light forms bulge out of line, thus affecting the 
appearance of the finished walk. If the walk is to be 5 inches thick, 
then 2 by 5's should be used for forms so that the concrete will be placed 
to the required thickness. 

For most if not all farm walks, one-course construction will be found 
best. This can be floated readily with a wood hand float to the desired 
surface finish, if pebbles no larger than % or 1 inch are used when pro- 
portioning the concrete mixture. 

The same consistency of concrete should be used for walks as for 
feedirg floors. If it is desired to have the walk curved at some point, 
3/2-inch siding or weather boarding is easy to stake to moderate curves, 
and where sharper ones are necessary, strips of sheet metal of the desired 
width can be used. 




A section of a concrete walk which has been struck off with a template cut out on the lower 
face so as to give the surface of the walk a slight crown. 

If two-course construction is used, a leaner mixture may be 
employed for the base, such as a 1:23/2:5. This should be mixed with 
less water than would be used for a quaky consistency, then leveled oft' 
one in^h below the top of forms. The right consistency will be recognized 
when water flushes to the surface under moderate tamping. Immediately 
after placing the base, a 1 : 2 mixture for the wearing course, one inch tbick, 
should be applied, this consisting of cement and sand only, in which 
1 sack of Portland cement is used to 2 cubic feet of well-graded, clean, 
coarse sand, in which the larger particles predominate and measure not 
more than }/i inch in greatest dimension. This top course should be 
mixed to a consistency so that the mortar will have to be scraped from 
the wheelbarrows or buckets when dumping into the forms, and it should 
be quickly leveled with a strikeboard and finished with a wood float. 

In finishing walks, quick drainage of the surface may be provided for if 
the template or strikeboard used to strike off the surface is cut out on 
the lower edge, so as to produce a crown to the finished walk; but the 
usual practice is to set the forms so that the surface of the walk 
will slope to one side at the rate of )/± inch per foot. Either method 
of securing drainage of the surface will be found effective. Probably 
the setting of forms so that the slope is toward one side will be found 
easier in most instances. 



CONCRETE FEEDING FLOORS 



Only a few simple tools are required for feeding floor, barnyard 
pavement and walk construction, although for a neat job on walks, 
two tools are required which are not necessary for ordinary feeding floor 
and barnyard pavement work, namely, a groover and an edger. Both can 
be purchased from almost any hardware store. The former is intended 
to finish the edges of adjoining slabs neatly, while the latter is to give 
a rounded edge to the sides of the walk. 

Concrete walks, like feeding floors and pavements, must be properly 
protected while the concrete is hardening. Side forms should be left 
in place until the concrete has hardened sufficiently to permit removing 
the protective covering. This will be in a week or ten days. 



LJBRARY OF CONGRESS 

020 187 546 8 

Concrete for Sanitation 

Sanitary improvements pay 
The sanitary, concrete feeding 
floor — the dining table of the 
hog-feeding lot — 
is a profitable investment 



If you want to know of other 
uses of concrete, write the 
Portland Cement Association, 
111 West Washington Street, 
Chicago 



0<3i 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 187 546 8 




V T 11 < 



